Environment Archives

Community Meeting on Felton Meadow Solar Array Is Tonight

September 23, 2026September 23, 2026 slvpost.com

By Mary Andersen A community meeting on the proposed Mount Hermon Solar Array in Felton Meadow is scheduled for tonight, Wednesday, September 23, at 7:00 PM at Newton Memorial Hall, 30 Conference Drive, Felton. To be clear from the start: we support projects that generate power from renewable sources, and we welcome community meetings like this one. Holding a public… Read More

Environment Local News

For 40 Years, the Valley Has Shown Up for Its Watershed

September 6, 2026September 11, 2026 slvpost.com

Join the Annual River & Road Clean Up Sept. 19 A plastic bottle tossed beside Highway 9 may not stay there. Rain can carry roadside litter into a drainage, a creek or the San Lorenzo River, and from there, downstream toward Monterey Bay, where it can harm wildlife and become part of a much larger pollution problem. For 40 years,… Read More

Columns Environment Gardening

The Hidden Journey of a Wild Ginger Seed

September 5, 2026September 11, 2026 Linda Skeff

By Linda Skeff Right now, along the shaded creek banks and in the redwoods of the San Lorenzo Valley, a small transaction is taking place — one most people walk past without noticing. Ants are moving seeds. It may look like nothing more than an ant carrying something slightly too large for its body. But when that ant is carrying… Read More

Columns Environment Gardening

French Broom: The Plant That Fire Loves

July 28, 2026August 7, 2026 slvpost.com

From the Ground Up: Invasive of the Month: French Broom By Linda Skeff By now, French Broom (Genista monspessulana) is everywhere — blanketing hillsides, lining neighborhood roadsides, spreading in dense walls along Route 236 and Mount Hermon Road. It has been here so long that many of us barely notice it anymore. That familiarity is part of the problem. Introduced… Read More

Environment Local News

Solar Array Proposed for Felton Meadow

June 7, 2026June 16, 2026 slvpost.com1 Comment

By Mary Andersen A commercial solar energy company has applied to Santa Cruz County for permits to build a large ground-mounted solar array on the Felton Meadow adjacent to the Felton Fair shopping center on property owned by Mount Hermon Christian Camps & Conference Center. A sign on the property confirms, “The proposed site will be located on the slope… Read More

Environment Local News

Why the Offshore Drilling Debate Matters in the Santa Cruz Mountains

March 30, 2026April 5, 2026 slvpost.com

An Environmental and Economic Case for Inland Engagement By Mary Andersen At first glance, offshore oil drilling may seem like a coastal issue, distant from the redwood forests and mountain towns of the San Lorenzo Valley. But the federal government’s proposal to open new oil and gas leases off California’s coast has prompted an unexpected coalition of opponents. The Santa… Read More

Environment Local News

Santa Cruz County Formally Opposes New Offshore Drilling Plan

January 14, 2026January 31, 2026 slvpost.com

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors has formally submitted comments opposing a proposed federal plan that could open new offshore oil and gas leasing off the California coast. The comments were sent to the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in response to a draft proposal that would allow new oil and… Read More

Environment Local News Tech

Among the Tallest Beings on Earth, Listening Becomes a Form of Reverence

January 2, 2026January 11, 2026 Mary Andersen

By Mary Andersen For those of us who live in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the presence of the redwoods is a daily comfort – a sense of being held in a place of reverence built long before roads, fences, and property lines. But few of us have ever truly heard these trees. We know the familiar sounds of needles after… Read More

Environment Local News Water

SLV Water District and Use of Pesticides on Watershed Lands

November 29, 2025December 6, 2025 Mary Andersen

By Mary Andersen The San Lorenzo Valley Water District’s (SLVWD) Integrated Pest Management Policy (IPMP) was created in response to a 2019 ban on glyphosate for district properties. That ban followed community-driven environmental and health risk concerns raised in 2017 and during the 2018 SLVWD board elections. However, the policy’s language and implementation have allowed continued use of other pesticides, such as… Read More

Northwestern Pond Turtles Lompico California

Environment Local News Wildlife

Return of the Northwestern Pond Turtle

August 17, 2025August 27, 2025 Julie Horner

Threatened Species Confirmed at Lompico Pond By Julie Horner The Lompico Pond Restoration and Demonstration Project, part of the San Lorenzo Valley Native Habitat Restoration Program (SLVNHRP) from the Valley Women’s Club of San Lorenzo Valley, is celebrating the discovery of Northwestern Pond Turtle eggs at Lake Lompico, a 1-acre wide pond nestled in a quiet residential community… Read More